Over the past year and a half I've been dealing with a plagarism problem with one Steve Von Brandt of S&K Guide Service and delawaretackle.com. I've dealt with the problem offline in the past but I'm to the point where I'm sick and damn tired of it so we're going to air out the laundry online this time.

The first time this happened, Mr. Von Brandt and his associates were taking my 'Throwing the Big Wood" article and re-writing portions of it, then publishing the article online with pretty much any site that would accept the article. Their plagarized version of my article (complete with plagarized pictures) was posted on no fewer than six fishing websites from around the country. After a lengthy argument with Steve and his associate Pat Sheridan, Pat finally sent me this email admitting that they had stolen my content:

Mr. vonBrandt is in the hospital, but I removed it from wherever it was in every location I could find. It is actually my fault, because after checking, I discovered that I had actually posted it myself in error. Mr. vonBrandt wrote a swimbait article, but lost the photos and the names of a couple baits, and when he asked me to redo it, I posted the other article of yours with the changes I made and I was going to use some of the photos when I saw your article. So actually it was not his fault, as he had given me his article, and yours, and I was supposed to just use the photos and use a few names of the baits and while I was altering his article, and had yours as well at the same time as reference, I got it all mixed up, so it is actually my fault. He wasn't aware of it, because he has been in the hospital, and then came home for a week and saw all this about the article and sent some emails, and had to go back to the hospital again, and is there now. Sorry, and I will make amends anyway I can as it is really my fault. Pat Sheridan
The article is removed from everywhere that I was contacted by and anywhere I could find it. Thanks and have a nice day. Pat Sheridan secretary S&K

The last part about the article being removed from everywhere it could be found was not true, but regardless I figured the issue could be dropped at that point.

Well this week another friend emails me to point out that this guy is ripping me off again. You can see for yourself at:

http://www.outdoorscentral.com/artman/publish/article_144.shtml

The last paragraph reads:

While it is certainly true that swimbaits are just plain fishy lures, whether or not they will work at other lakes and under other conditions is probably for the most part dependant on whether there is some type of forage in the body of water that is of the approximate size and shape of the swimbait. I think they are effective bluegill imitators, and I know that they represent a golden shiner to a tee, but if you’re throwing a 5 inch bait to a fish that’s keyed in on 2 inch threadfin shad they probably aren’t going to be very interested. But if you’ve got some shiners, small bluegill, or perhaps even some perch in your home lake, it might be time to give Delaware tackle a call at 856-269-0188 or just stop by the online store and stock up now at www.delawaretackle.com

Sound familiar? If it does, it's because you read my original article written in July of 2000:

http://www.calfishing.com/freshwater/saltwater_swimbaits/Introduction.html

While it is certainly true that swimbaits are just plain fishy lures, whether or not they will work at other lakes and under other conditions is probably for the most part dependant on whether there is some type of forage in the body of water that is of the approximate size and shape of the swimbait. I think they are effective bluegill imitators, and I know that they represent a golden shiner to a tee, but if you're throwing a 5 inch bait to a fish that's keyed in on 2 inch threadfin shad they probably aren't going to be very interested. But if you've got some shiners, small bluegill, or perhaps even some perch in your home lake, it might be time to call out to California, hop on the Internet, or somehow get your hands on some of these unassuming fish catchers!

This guy's motivations are very clear, to sell tackle through his website and to promote his guide business, and apparently he has no qualms about blatantly plagarizing my content to do so. My message to anyone that reads this is to please not support this guy and his BS business practices.

-Rob

Rob, have you tried bringing up the S-word? SUE!

It's a shame he can't write anything himself. You've got my support, Rob. If enough people boycott him, maybe he'll learn not to burn others.

I really gave this guy a chance because I dislike airing stuff out like this online... but after the initial fight we had about it, and them completely admitting they were plagarizing me, to see them do it again just flipped my lid.

Fishcat, maybe when my sister graduates from Boalt next year we can see about a legal resolution to problems like this. I really try not to be unreasonable about stuff like this but this one was just ridiculous.

hm, here's another one

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/12/prweb323826.htm

Not this crap again. The first time I guess could be passed off as a mistake. Even if the explanation is complete BS. Now 2 articles of yours Rob being plagarized is grounds for public humiliation and some e-mails to his sponsors. I'd make sure you keep some proof of the plagarism in case the court route ever needs to happen

Erik

And the kicker? When you go to reeltimeanglers.com and look in the photo gallery, there are several pics of me. As if I would have contributed them to his site after he ripped me off, yeah that makes tons of sense. Blood boiling at this point x(

I can't believe he would be so blatant ! I have e-mailed with this guy in the past, and posted a few photos of his big bass on my site..... which I will remove now.

I have had a couple of my photos grabbed and used online too. Like this: http://www.hawaiibassfishing.com/default.asp?nc=5684&id=4

Oh sure..... They have lots of 12-11 Largemouths in Hawaii ......too bad this one came from Clear Lk, Ca. and was stolen from the net without my knowledge.

Then there was the "Fish Chris" on the T-shirt thing..... talk about one ugly T-shirt ! Bet they didn't sell 3 of them.... but still, the idea was obviously to make money, and apparently, they planned to do so with a "painting" of me (interestingly, they used the same photo on the Hawaii site to get the painting of..... Not sure why... I have SO many better photos floating around) But anyway....
.....Just searched for 20 minutes, and couldn't find it, but it was me for sure !

Geez, some people.....
Fish

you should sue him...

also, what sites are we boycotting?

I sent a real nice 'love letter' to the aforementioned. If nothing else, he'll at least feel the heat.... If anyone else sends a 'note', don't mention swimbait's name or this website by name, then if Mr Original Idea gets squirrely ,he has no ammo... Vermin everywhere..... Alex

I'm sure you wanted this to go away, but this guy has been doing the same thing to my board for a while. He removed one post, which is probably the one you referenced too. Notice the replies afterward. I asked why he didn't list your site for reference. He basically was using your name and fishing ability for his gain. What a jerk!

http://p222.ezboard.com/ffishtalkandfishingreportsfrm10.showMessage?topicID=140.topic

I'll delete that post in a couple days after you have viewed it. Let me know if any of the follow up is your work. Guess who just got on the banned from my board list.:-)

Sorry about your problem Rob, but you're not alone on this one. This guy has been on so many boards, and been kicked off half of them. You've got people that know you, and will spread the word about his antics.

Rick

Have you considered contacting the sites that publish "his" work and bringing them into it? The guy who's doing the plagiarizing doesn't give a flying.

As far as the legal situation, this is a pretty clear copyright violation. The problem will be proving damages...

Rob if you have any legal questions, you can PM them to me and I can venture to answer them (I graduate from lawschool in May). However, with your significant internet presence and follwoing, I think you may be able to dissuade this guy from poaching your stuff without undertaking the time, expense, and uncertainty of litigation.

J Hinds, I think you are on the right track ;)

Johnny A, yes I have contacted each of the sites over time where my stuff has been published, plagarized by Steve Von Brandt. They have all been completely understanding about it. I talked with the guy at outdoorsonline.com this morning and he said the article would be off his site shortly. I fight it one at a time like that, it's very frustrating but it's what has to be done.

whats sad is I have messaged him... yeah i know im not the author of the articles.. but i just ask him whats up with the articles and am subsuqauentally banned from his forums.. oh well.. i usually create a new ID and start more crap cuz i have nothing better to do.. long live grey goose!!!! It is kind of sad he has to plagarise to get his articles put online.. i really love the fact that on a lot of forum posts hes like oh you can get the swimbaits mentioned at so and so... hahha was a tool...

GREY GOOSE!!!!

Rob
For what it's worth, I just sent Von Brandt an email and let him know exactly how I feel about his lack of integrity. I'm sure he'll understand the message because my wife read it and just walked away
shaking her head.
I can hardly wait to see if he has the balls to respond.
Tree

That guy has some seriously large nads to rip-off someone. Especially if they place it on a web site that is just now getting into the swimbait mode. Rob, I would really look into the legal issues since your article was written and documented 5 years earlier. I happen to be a member of their site and I will gladly dump their sorry a$$e$. Good luck to what happens in the future.

Done 3/2/06

Apprently they have their fishing forums locked, so nobody can post. Pretty funny.

Rob, this type of thing is just hideous. I HATE liars and cheats, and these guys are perfect examples of both. Legal action seems like it would be a big hassle with little pain on their end. What I suggest is simple. #1 keep up with contacting any site they post YOUR article on. #2 Create a small site documenting all the crap these towo guys are doing. Then make sure that whenever someone types their names (and related names) your little site shows at the top of the list in every search engine. Post a link to your little site here, then we can all start going to it and get the hint count up, plus we can pass it on to all our freinds. Heck, start a chain-mail type of thing. Hit 'em where it just might hurt.

Amish Ed
You can't catch it again if it's dead!

It gets worse!

Check out von brandt's latest site:
www.basslurereview.com

The reviews are not his words, they are cut and paste articles by other people!!!

This guy is either completely out of control or just plain ignorant.

Questions:

1. How stupid can you be to run a company this way?

2. How much money does your brother need to stink up the BFL trail and lose all the time?

3. How much longer till his companies are brought down?

4. What about the kids of his sites?


I am most concerned about his cult following on the site. Before von brandt passes out the Kool-Aid to everyone I think we should all go to his board, create an account, and save an angler or two who are in the dark on this guy! I know as an avid angler that I would want the same if I was being mislead, to have another angler help me!

www.skguideservice.com (message boards)

The real sad thing is that von brandt has lured some actual FLW and BASS pro's into his site. Not only is von brandt helping to bring down the fishing world, but he is also bringing pro's into his web that will eventually become a black eye for the pro's of BASS and FLW. I wonder how Ish Monroe would feel if he knew von brandt is a plagarizing theif?

Sad, real sad,
Potomac Bass

p.s.
no one should let this go!

ALRIGHT! That is about enough of this whole mess...
I've kept my mouth shut until now but its about time I say something! I was on the Prostaff of Deleware Tackle and Reeltimeanglers until all of this happened. I was "in the dark" so to speak of the goings on but was not completely blindsided due to some emails back and forth with Rob. Let's just get two things straight, the first is that I don't want to get wrapped up in this, that's why I left the company and have kept my nose out of this post until now, but second is that Steve VonBrandt is no longer with Delaware Tackle, in fact, the company/store is gone. It has closed its doors and Steve and his partner have parted ways. His partner who is a stand-up guy is trying to continue running the website (www.reeltimeanglers.com) so let's cut him a break! He's been through enough, he's shut down his business and parted ways with his partner. Don't you think maybe, just maybe we could stay out of other people's business instead of jumping on the band wagon and let Chuck try to reestablish a business on his own apart from the mess that someone else made and dropped in his lap?! If you have a personal problem with Steve (other than jumping on the bandwagon) try contacting him via email (though I don't know if he's still around at all) but let's leave Chuck and the now defunct realtimeanglers alone as they try to piece back together a mess that they did not see coming, that was just dropped in their laps. Believe me, they're as dismayed as you and I at the goings on. Let it go....

Sorry Rob, I had to say something.

Matt

Matt - No problem. I never intended for you to get caught in the crossfire and I never brought up your name in this deal. If there's a new guy at those sites and he's going to run it cleanly, all good - this stuff just wears me out so if never comes up again, I'll be stoked.

Thanks man, believe me, it didn't go unnoticed that you left me out of the crossfire. Its my honest opinion that you won't have any more trouble but again, only time can tell for sure. From my experience those remaining with Reeltimeanglers are class acts.

Matt

Matt is right. Chuck and the other guys at Reeltime and Delaware Tackle are all good guys.I used to post on there site all the time.I hope he can bring it back to where it was. Which was a great place to post and read and meet new anglers.And the tackle store was also a nice place.The so called pro who has caused all his problems, is nothing more than a phoney and a clown. I could go on and on, with my own experiences, but I wont.Just dont form an opinion based on the actions of one jerk.The rest of the guys are top notch.And to Matt, good luck brother!!!

Kenny
The Great Kenami

I have the highest respect for Matt and his work. Purchased one of his bluegills direct this past winter. Looking forward to trying it out this year.

The Bluegill article Rob put on this forum will be of great help. I'm going to do some different hooking methods to increase the hook-up.

Rick

Well I think it's time to put this thread to rest, so I'm going to lock it. I'm not doing this because anyone said anything wrong, I'm just ready to move on to more productive waters.